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In contrast to Driven, The Fast and the Furious actually hit the mark it was aiming for. In fact, I might go so far as to say that it actually surpassed my expectations. I'm not going to go overboard here and suggest that it is a masterpiece of cinema. However, it is certainly a cut above the average Hollywood movie. Firstly, its theme is one of inherent interest. There is something really quite engaging about the life of a street racer: modifying a run-of-the-mill Japanese compact car into a 500bhp vehicle that can do a quarter-mile in 10 seconds and gathering in the middle of the night with 100 like-minded racers to wager thousands of dollars on quarter-mile drag races.

The film had great energy and was just angry enough to give it attitude, but not too angry as to be obnoxious. The race and chase sequences were excellent; full of high speed action and cool camera angles. Unfortunately, there were a couple of crashes that people walked away from which, in real life, would have seriously injured those involved. But apart from the odd departure from real-life, the driving seemed actually pretty accurate.

The story and characters were also better than I expected. There were some tough choices for the hero, Brian (played by the blue-eyed Paul Walker), and you actually felt like you got to know the main players a bit. Vin Diesel, who plays opposite Walker as the charismatic, if harsh, street racing legend Dominic, has an on-screen presence similar to Ving Rhames. In fact, it is Diesel who forms the backbone of the film, both within the context of the story and with his performance.

In addition to the great races and chases, there are some nice scenes

involving interaction of the characters. In particular, a moment towards the end, when Brian reveals his true identity to Dominic, generates a great deal of tension.

As with many films of this nature, it would be easy to pick it apart.

Dissecting the inconsistencies in the story and illogical decisions of the characters would, however, just be a futile engagement. This film is more about the experience than the meaning... more about the journey than the destination.

This film is almost too good for words. Whilst watching it I was mesmerized by the kung-fu scenes, the dazzling swordplay, and the incredible scenery. It was as if the storyline and characters took a back seat to the immediacy of visual stimuli.

About 30 minutes after I left the cinema I began to realize that the best things about the film were the very things I hadn't noticed as I was watching it. The story is strong and combines so wonderfully with the incredible character development that I feel I HAVE to see it again to learn more about the characters, because I know there are things that I missed the first time around. Oh yeah, I suppose it will also be nice to see the action sequences again, which, by the way were the best in any movie of this type I have ever seen.

So there you have it. It is a film that features some the best kung-fu scenes of all time. But the kung-fu scenes are not the best thing about the film.

One more thing. I know that there are people in the USA that will refuse to see this film because of the subtitles - one guy walked out after about 90 seconds of the showing I went to. All I can say is that they are missing out on one of the best movies of all time... just because they are lazy. It's "Life is Beautiful" all over again.